An important step in the production of a printed image on a print media is the feeding of a print media into a printing device. A number of methods have been developed to facilitate the introduction of print media into printing devices including: incorporating perforated paper, continuous feed fan-fold paper, various containment structures, etc. A recent trend has developed eliciting the ability to form images on numerous different media types. These different media types include envelopes, transparencies, card stock paper, and regular letter paper. These different media types are packaged in large quantities called reams so as to provide a convenient amount of media to a printing device.
In order to utilize a printing device, one would obtain a ream of print media, remove its wrapper, and insert it into a tray or cassette in the printing device. This process is performed on most printers and other document producing devices on a regular basis in order to keep a substantial amount of media in the printers and at hand for the user. Often in the tearing away of the wrapper on a ream of media, the media itself becomes disheveled and what could have been a virtually menial task turns into a desperate mess.
Moreover, with the ever increasing printing methods and media types, there is a greater demand for a high quality appearance of the produced document itself. In order to appease the demand for quality, media manufactures have applied a standard wherein there is a top and bottom to a ream of media. The quality of the image produced will depend on the side of the print media chosen. During the manufacturing process, the two sides of a piece of paper develop different characteristics and one side becomes better suited for receiving a print image. This is differentiation in the characteristics is often referred to as the nap of the paper. A ream is traditionally packaged with the nap facing the bottom of the ream of paper so as to signal to the user how to insert the media into the tray or cassette of the document printing device. When the user removes the wrapper of the media, the different faces of the media become virtually indistinguishable and, if the user fails to remember which side is which, the potential of receiving the highest print image quality is lost.